Talkspace hires a chief medical officer ahead of potential IPO

Talkspace, a start-up in which offers therapy via video chat, is actually getting serious about selling to employers as well as also has just brought on a chief medical officer to help.

Neil Leibowitz, who previously served as senior medical director at UnitedHealth, joined Talkspace This specific month. His hiring comes as the company builds out its enterprise business as well as also is actually mulling a potential IPO.

Talkspace, which offers a $79 weekly service for talking to a therapist online or a $49 service for messaging a mental health professional, recently hit 1 million users after more than a few years in business, CEO Oren Frank told CNBC. He said the company is actually generating tens of millions of dollars in revenue.

today in which Leibowitz is actually on board, Talkspace’s physicians will soon be able to start prescribing medicines when needed. The psychiatrists, who are independent consultants, will only be able to prescribe using the video tool due to state as well as also federal regulations. Leibowitz said the company hasn’t decided yet if there are any medications the item might avoid prescribing, such as opiates.